Inner
City Press:
USG Ladsous
has been in
Nepal,
Bangladesh and
the
region.
In Bangladesh,
while he was
there, the
Asian Center
for Human
Rights put out
a pretty
detailed
report called
ď
Bangladesh,
Sending Death
Squads to Keep
the UNís PeaceĒ.
And they
detail
incidence in
the Chittagong
Hill Tracts
and elsewhere
in Bangladesh,
and tie it to
particular
units that
have
contributed
troops to UN
peacekeeping.
So, I wanted
to know, one,
whatís the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operationís
response to
that
report.
Two, did it
come up while
he was in
Bangladesh?

Deputy
Spokesman:
On Bangladesh,
the basic
point is
always the
same ó that if
countries
contribute
troops to UN
peacekeeping,
they have to
go through the
proper vetting
procedures to
make sure that
they are in
compliance
with human
rights and
other
requirements
by UN
peacekeeping.

Inner City
Press:
This report
names
particular
units.
So, Iím just
wondering,
Iíve seen in
the past, the
UN has issued
some kind of
response to
Human Rights
Watch reports,
Amnesty
International
Reports.
Is kind of
viewed as a
regional
group?
Or is there
going to be a
response to
the units,
some of whom
are barred
from outside
military aid?

Deputy
Spokesman:
I know that my
colleagues in
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations are
aware of this
particular
report from
this
non-governmental
organization
and if they
have a
response, Iíll
find out what
that is.

But Haq and
Ladsous' DPKO
have given no
answer.
Instead, while
in India
Ladsous who openly
refuses to
answer
questions from
the
investigative
Press gave a
canned
interview in
which he
lauded his
drones and
said, "The
most important
is that we
must be
available to
support the
political
processes. The
second is
human rights."

Human rights?
Ladsous' DPKO
has answered a
detailed human
rights report,
Ladsous
refused to
answer about
peacekeeper
killings in
the Central
African
Republic and
stonewalls for
months on the
130 rapes in
Minova by his
partners in
the Congolese
Army, video
here.

Back on July
16 in New York,
Ladsous said
he would take
questions
about
peacekeeping
in the Central
African
Republic,
Inner City
Press arrived
early to ask
about reports
the current
MISCA
peacekeepers
have killed
civilians, for
example in
Bozoum, here.

So on July 17,
Inner City
Press put the
same question
to UN deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq:
what does the
UN know, and
what has it
done about,
allegations of
killing by
MISCA
peacekeepers,
proposed to be
"re-hatted" in
September?

Haq told Inner
City Press to
"ask MISCA."
So the UN has
no role, and
will
automatically
put UN "blue
helmets" on
these troops?

Inner City
Press also
asked about media
reports in
Nepal that
Ladsous will
visit that
country on
July 11, ostensibly
to "acquire
information on
the latest
political
situation
[and] the
progress made
in terms of
constitution
writing."

But do Ladsous
and DPKO have
any mandate to
review
constitutions?
Shouldn't
Ladsous if
there review
cholera
screening, in
light of
bringing the
disease to
Haiti? Ladsous
did not
answer, and
neither did
Haq.

On July 16 at
the Security
Council
stakeout,
first Ladsous
sought out a
softball
question in
French; then
when the Press
question about
MISCA in
Bozoum was
asked, he
shook his head
and said, ďI
give the floor
to Madame.Ē

So
Inner City
Press asked
that question,
politely but
audibly. Again
Ladsous
refused to
answer,
looking
desperately
around for a
friendly
question.

Ladsous
has adopted
this position
-- video
compilation
here --
since Inner
City Press
asked him
about his
history during
the Rwanda
genocide in
1994, as
France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
in the
Security
Council
arguing for
the escape of
genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo, sample
memo here.

It was and is
a
straightforward
question, the
type public
officials
answer every
day. But
Ladsous has
refused, and
has gone
further.

Because
Ladsous is
protected --
was nominated
-- by the
French
government
which has
controlled UN
Peacekeeping
four times in
a row now,
this anamoly
is allowed to
go on inside
the UN.

More
seriously, UN
Peacekeeping
by most
accounts
brought
cholera to
Haiti, which
has killed
over 8,000
people. Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous,
loud and clear
(but nothing
but polite) if
his DPKO now
belatedly
screens
peacekeepers
from cholera
hot spots
before
deployment.

Ladsous
refused to
answer. To
this has the
UN descended.
The new Free
UN
Coalition for
Access has
formally
proposed that
UN Under
Secretaries
General not be
allowed to
take this
approach.
Watch this
site.